Gravity- Our Time To Fall
by Angelina Roongta
Summary: Gravity is the prime force, even the greatest kings have not been able to stand against it. Everything, everyone has to fall. A world which had emerged from the ashes of death and destruction, stands on the brink of war, because not always do fragments fit together & to Tris the war is more personal than you can imagine. A tale of love, war and loss which can set the future ablaze.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Gravity is the prime force; even the greatest kings have not been able to stand against it. Everything, everyone has to fall. A world which had emerged from the ashes of death and destruction stands on the brink of war, because not always do fragments fit together. And to Tris, Jeanine, Zoey and Nita the war is more personal than you can imagine. A tale of love, war and loss which can set the future ablaze.

"We do not have enough bombs." Tris yelled from her post as the head of the war council.

"We cannot attack them now, they have more resources." She added, before walking out of the conference room, leaving everyone stunted. "The Divine Race of Artemies" was printed in bold red letters above her empty chair, which faced the council of women after their leader had left. The women of State A got up slowly and walked out like dignified ladies and walked home to greet their families, looking like normal women. However there was something different here, the women had an aura of power while the men looked almost defeated and inferior. Adriana laughed as she thought about the silly ways the other countries have. In Tigers, they have equality among men and women. Hah! As if men can ever be equal to women. They are ghastly creatures, doing nothing but committing crime, they deserve to be kept shut in their houses, where they can never commit any crime.

That is what the Artemies, the divine goddess of maidens, tells always and her teachings are law for Diviners. They live in the country named Divine Race of Artemies, which is divided into fourteen states. Each state has a president and war council of its own but the ultimate power laid with the Queen an Empress of DROA. State A was the most important state and thus the president and war council of this state were vested with the most powers. Yes, she and her countrywomen are diviners', so are the men but they are a women ruled society, where men are puppets in the hands of women. They can do any job they like and even reach the highest posts but they will never get the status of women. For example, men can be politicians but the empress will always be a women. They follow the laws of Artemies. Girls, who want to follow the true path of the goddess shun the company of men and live in groups of women and train for armies. They are known as hunters and train in a wide range of weapons from arrows and guns to knife and missiles. Their dresses are tradition camouflage uniforms with silver parkas. Some of them, not fit enough to fight, are made priestess and teachers. The other group of women are The Amazons, who are always dressed in black, which show that they are a peg or two below the hunters- who are never prejudiced but the Amazons are not maidens or eternal virgins and live family lives and then there are the Oracles of the moon, the ones who take all the important political decisions. The Amazons and the hunters are like two tribes under us the oracles of the moon, the voice of Artemies. The Amazon district is ruled at present by Nadia- the Amazon queen who is like what they would call the district head in a long lost place known as Europe, which was like huge. The other district is the Silver districts of the hunters, which is ruled by their head and the vice-president of the country known as the Lutinent of Artemies who is Tris and then there is the president- her. Tris is the head of the war councils because the hunters are fierce warriors. War councils are the only place where Jeanine cannot over rule Tris which makes her blood boil, she, Jeanine , is the voice of the goddess while Tris is a mere sister in arms but there are some laws which must have the vote of the whole council to amend and Jeanine does not have time for such trivial things besides the votes nearly always go in Tris's favor. Like now. She just basically stopped the country from a war with their enemies. How Jeanine wished that she was not the head of State A's war council. Not only would she not have much power, she also would never have the upper hand in votes. And to think Tris was just a mere author once, famous but just that. Now she is the leading author in the world as well as a leader of the DROA.

Tris had asked Jeanine to allow the Amazons to wear a little colour but Jeanine had put her foot down and then Tris's next request was to allow men into the hunters' ranks so that they may also get trained for fights and explained her point in a war council where Tris told that they would still be inferior to women, the armies would have extra military strength. The suggestion was vetoed out until she told how the death of women would go down and lo! Everyone was in favor of her stupid idea. Tris made the hunters' have concrete houses instead of camps and got all the hunters' to treat males with respect as long as they do the same. She was a commander and some said that she was the next president but Jeanine knows Tris is a firm believer in the old cast system, oracles rule and that is the way it is going to stay for Jeanine wants her daughter Diana (named after the goddess's other name) to be the next president. The oracles never had kids nor did they help in child birth like some of the aged hunters (Artemis was the goddess of maidens and childbirth) but the oracles can adopt, girls if they take an oath to forsake the company of men forever and follow the oracles, forget their blood families and never touch arms. Any girl can join the hunters if she swears to remain an eternal virgin. Jeanine knows that other oracles would try for the head but she can make sure that Diana becomes the head of moon oracles, making her the president but for now, the future is hazy for the oracles too as there is a war coming. The neighboring countries Confederation of Power and Tigers have allied with Asia, which is in the hands of religious groups, each group being a state and they have a high class administration in state but horrible when it comes to countries and in some places women are treated as shit while others they are equal to men and while in very few they have the upper hand. The DROA had declared war against Asia but now they are backing off due to loss of two important allies, trying to avoid the third world war. It is the year 3050 and the UNO, is ancient, it fell in 3000 and the nature seems to be eager to repeat Noah's ark but their country is safe due the technological advancements they have made. Some of their neighbors have gone out due to drought and floods and so on, and DROA tried to help some though Tris wanted to help all. They nearly always succeeded, being a president is fun but Adriana wants to be the empresses. Their present queen is Lady Ciara and the empress is Empresses Queen Riana. All of them together rule DROA and she wants to be the only one.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Tris reached her silver apartment building just as the sun began to descend. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange and pink, but today the soft pink reminded Tris of flowing blood. All the huntress and hunters who saw her saluted her, halting whatever they were doing, waiting for their leader to pass. To them she seemed normal, her hair tied back, a cargo jacket tied at the waist, long jeans and an expression of deep thought.

"She is always in deep thought," Matilda a young huntress thought.

"Must be the war council, even though she looks like a sixteen year old worried about her tests in school, we know better," a nurse with grey hair tied in a bun and sagging skin thought as she gazed outside from a hospital window, waiting for her shift to end.

Instead of walking home and relaxing Tris immediately went to see the preparations going on in the war temple of the goddess. There she stood with a silver bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows beside her, ready for war. Two hunting knives and a dagger in her belt and small knives with tips dipped in the strongest sleeping potion hidden up her body in various places. Her hair was piled on her head in a bun and kept in place with a clip which if used correctly could gorge the enemy's eye out. A spear and a sword adorned her back and a tiny circle which sprung into a shield was tied on her wrist. A gun lay in its holster at her waist and poisonous darts were seen peeking out from one of the pockets of her midnight black clock, covering her from head to toe, concealing her camoflauge clothes and a staff. The goddess looked like a war machine and indeed this particular idol was placed on an rotating dais and could shoot deadly arrows and weapons if needed.

"Amelia," Tris called the huntress in charge of the preparations. Amelia was an old huntress who had been working in the temple ever since the day she had joined the ranks of the huntresses. With hazel eyes, deep chocolate brown locks which reached her waist and baby pink skin Amelia had been a fantasy of many men. For a while, as a young child she basked in the glory and attention, she got everywhere she went but her beauty became a curse for her when in pursuit of her a man killed her younger brother Gabriel and her mother Ruby. Her father disowned her calling her a wretch unfit to live right before her selections steeling her choice- the huntresses. Amelia could have become an oracle but she wanted to train and learn how to yield power.

"She could have done so as a bodyguard for the Amazon queen," Tris thought but she dismissed it as she saw the old war hardened lady come her way. She was dresses in a loose silver skirt and a deep grey which revealed the scar running down her neck.

"Hello, Tris," Amelia greeted and bowed.

"No need for that Amelia, you are my senior in both age and experience," Tris replied, though she loved the attention. After a pause she asked "So are all the preparations done? Is the temple ready to receive the new recruits? Are all the idols of the goddess in place? And what about the twin idols of Athena, are they placed in their proper places?" her voice becoming more rushed with each sentence.

"Calm down Tris. I have been in charge of temple for a longer time than you have been the leader. I have taken care of it all," Amelia said quietly.

"I am sorry Amelia, if my words hurt you in any manner; all I wanted was to be sure that everything is perfect when the newbie arrive for their tour."

Amelia watched her leader turn and walk away. She has an aura of power around her but she seems different, Amelia thought. Her aura seems natural but it also seems tense and stiff, like she had had a hard time keeping it. As it should, she thought. After all Amelia the old priestess was the only one who knew the leader's secret.

Tris watched the stars from the roof of her house. Looking down she could see the sentries changing shifts and could hear some of the young huntresses taking about the war games. Across she could see the tiny speck of light in the quarters of the oracles of the moon, signaling the start of the Purification Ceremony, which every child who had turned fourteen had to take the day before their selection exams or for those who received the goddess approval the day they walked into their choices. Literally. Personally Tris thought that the goddess favored all and the tests were a load of crap but it was not her place to argue. Her own ceremony had taken place four years ago.

Today, however, was not special to her because of the ceremonies tomorrow but because of the past she had buried deep in her heart. Today was the day he had entered this world. Him being Tobias, the boy she loved with all her heart. Slowly she pulled out a photograph from the bag she had carried up here. There was no danger of the wind here, because of the force fields and the nets which surrounded the roof. She gazed at the picture, guilt and love forming a painful mixture on her face, yet she refused to cry. She looked at his tall and lean figure, thin yet strong. He was looking at the person holding the camera as if that person was his whole life. His right eyebrow was raised in a silent question and there was a crooked half smirk of admiration on his face. His deep set black eyes sparkled and his jet black looked like someone had just ruffled it. His right ear had two piercings in it and he wore an orange sweatshirt with the image of a horse on it. His navy blue jeans were faded in places and his hands were in his pockets and two fingers in his belt lopes as he leaned against the wall. They were similar that way; she too always had her hands in her pockets fingering her belt loops. Next to him stood a younger boy with jade eyes and silver blonde hair and a smile like Tris's. Her brother Caleb.

Tobias and Caleb had been best friends for the short time they had known each other. They always hung out together, doing everything in their power to have fun. Skipping stones, cricket, football, you name it. They were good fighters too; Caleb's talents at mace and javelin were unbelievable while Tobias was a born wrestler and swordsman like no other. He also was extremely good with spears and staffs, the staff being his special weapon.

A tear escaped her closed eyelids at the thought of the brother she had grown up with. The excitement she had felt when she first held him and the way they had chased each other around the yard as kids, until the government spoilt it all. Tobias would have turned eighteen today, she thought. A few months older to her they were nearly the same age. He was the winter child born in the last week of the year while she was the spring child born on the first day of March. She pulled her black jacket tighter around her as chills went down her spine at when the image of sightless eyes penetrated her mind. No, she decided, today ids a good for only good memories. She had become a huntress because she could not even stand the thought of loving another and it was true, he was her other half. She would live a life that he would have liked and then she would die a warrior's death. "I am sure I will find them in some sort of warrior's heaven," she whispered to the stars, looking strangely at the Orion. There were mixed opinions about it. Some said the goddess loved him and swore of men after his death because she could not love another, others claimed that she had already sworn off men but Orion made her change her mind while yet others called him a wile person who had tried to hurt the goddess. Tris could relate to all three but she believed it was the second.

With that thought in her mind, she climbed down the steep ladder to her room and changing into a pair of high waist denim shorts and a white crop top, she fell asleep, dreaming of a future Tobias and her could never have.

Zoey stood among the other fourteen year olds, waiting for her turn at the sacrificial fire to purify herself. Her brain raced as she decided what to do. She loved to draw but would that be enough to purify her? She could not sing, dance or write well and her only other talent was at fighting. She watched as her friend Nita Jane Villa stepped up to purify himself. Nita danced within the ring of fire and threw up the feather she had chosen to represent herself with. Nita with her honey blonde hair, dark green eyes and soft pink lips was someone Zoey could never be. Zoey was not plain but she was not striking either. She had waist length dark blue hair, hazel eyes and lips like rose petals. She had olive skin and naturally rosy cheeks but Nita was fearless and strong, traits Zoey would trait her soul for. Nita made her own rules while Zoey did her best to keep Nita from stepping out of the line too much. Nita wore tattered jeans and a tank top against her mother's advice while Zoey like all others was in a dress; hers had Siberian sleeves and a sweet heart neckline. Nita was a born huntress with her love for battles and scars. Zoey could understand it but she was more of the person who would sit on the sidelines and encourage the troops with a bottle of lemonade. She was a perfect Amazon, along with her boyfriend of two years, Neal.

"Nita Jane Villa, you have chosen to represent yourself with a feather and danced to cleanse your soul," the voice of the president started Zoey out of her thoughts. Miss Jeanine Level's disdain of the Amazons was popular gossip, but no one knew if it was true or not.

Nita's sing song voice was next "Yes, I did dance and let feathers fly."

"Why can you tell us have you chosen a feather to represent yourself?"

"The feather is free and light, I want to be like it, unbound, unbound of marriage and rituals, unbound of family. I love mine but I think my one true love will always be guns.''

Jeanine poured oil in a silver pitcher filled with water and lit it. This is Nita's final test, Zoey thought.

"Here goes nothing," Nita muttered to herself before taking a seat. The fire burned bright while Jeanine muttered a prayer over it. It was said to be a blessing for the girls taking a step into their future.

The ceremony had gone peacefully until Aqua Hays was called. The fire went out during her turn. The poor girl was now stripped of any choice. She was to live where her selection test tomorrow deemed her fit. Zoey was next. With shaking feet, she let a heart shaped locket fall out of her hands on the ground and then drew a baby in the ground. Her ceremony went fine until the time when the fire was lit in the Amazon bowl. As Jeanine read the final word of prayer, a scream broke the stillness of the night and started what was not supposed to start now.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This chapter is dedicated to catchingdivergents and to the guest who reviewed. thanks a lot.

Nita took Zoey's hand and fled, fled to where she had last seen Neal. No one knew what had happened except her and maybe the leaders. Her mother was a courtier with Queen Nadia and Nita had discovered a letter in her mother's secret room after her mother's untimely passing, which Nita refuses to believe accidental at all. On her death bed, her mother gave her a letter and a secret key. Nita being overly curious by nature devoured the note and it made her heart stop in her chest. The Queen was thinking of joining hands with the Confederation of Power, in exchange of a government position, higher than that of a district head and the fall of both Jeanine and Tris. That had happened over a year ago, Tris had managed to prevent the war till now but she could only go this far, without the whole truth and Nita knew that as a Amazon, it would be considered betrayal if she spoke a word to the huntresses and one thing for sure Nita did not want was to end up in a grave before her time like her mother.

Zoey cried and asked questions as they ran but all Nita could do was shake her head and say "trust me".

Neal was a brown eyes, red headed villain with an eye always out for mischief. Nita could not see what Zoey saw in him except a tiny flicker of strength now and then, but the boy was not cute.

"Nita stop, stop, I cannot run, I will not run anymore," Zoey declared, pulling away her flats and throwing them behind her back. She stood barefoot, hands running through her hair trying to untangle it. Another explosion of guns in the background, however, got her running as if dogs were snapping at her heals. Hell Zoey even left _Nita _behind.

Tris shot out of her bed at night, when a shrill scream pierced the air. Her first thought was Tobias and Caleb where were they but then the banging on her door set her mind straight. She was no longer a twelve year old looking after Caleb or a nearly fourteen year old trying to step lightly into her very first and last relationship. She was the Hunter leader, she thought as she pulled a nightgown around her. "Must be some stupid Amazons," she whispered to the night.

"Girls, calm down. We are huntresses, it will be alright," she consoled them. The younger ones were trying their best to maintain their calm around their leader before going off to bed.  
"Tris, madam, it is not all right," one of her trusted spies told her. Tris had appointed scouts when she had started getting anonymous notes about the Amazon invasion. She never thought of them as important but one of Tobias's favourite sayings was "precaution is better than cure".

She had made the mistake of not following it once, now she would not make the same mistake again.

"What is it?" she asked urgently. This was her family, her home and she would protect it with her life if necessary.

"The invasion has come and so has the war."

Tris cursed, if only Jeanine had listened. Then the words caught up with her penetrating the force in her sleepy brain. The war!

"No…no, it can't, no," was all she could mutter, pale as a sheet. Not a far, not yet. She could not fight the place where they still may be living, she could not attack those she had studied with but she also could not let her family, her sisters' die. She had to uphold the dignity of her post and her goddess.

"But we do not have enough weapons," she screamed. The women and men in front of her began to tremble. They had to act, now. It did not matter if they had weapons or not, the attacks will not stop even if they laid down in surrender.

"It does not matter what we have or not, get our weapons on the ready. Call Amelia and tell her to ready the goddess for war. Tell all the nurses to take their posts NOW. Escort the younger huntresses to the underground passages and give them places inside the hospitals to guard. Make sure they have enough weapons to last till tomorrow night at least. All the senior huntresses and army members to the war posts and battlements now. We have no time for proper clothes; just keep your guards up. This is war!" She declared this following it with a yell of "Long lives the goddess, Long Live the Divine Race of Artemis.''

Tris tied the nightgown firmly around her and then pulled a small revolver and two pistols from their places in her room. Her hidden daggers, up her sleeves and two pocket knives. That will have to do.

She ran up to the battlements where the men and the women were firing away. She hoped the youngsters were safe. She could not see anything but gunfire and smoke all around her. Bodies were being feed as fodder to canons. They had no weapons but whatever lay at hand. Defeat seemed so probable that she could see it etched onto her face.

Without the Amazons at their side, they were hopelessly outnumbered. What Jeanine never understood that the Amazons were more important to their society than anyone else. They after all were the ones who gave birth to the next generation. Without the Amazons DROA would perish into a desert. She fired at a war plane, as she yelled at others to bring out the cannons and other ammunition. They were losing and fast. She had to do something. "Everyone get down, take to the trees, we will defeat these mosquitoes," she ordered. As they all got down and made their way to the forests nearby, she could hear her heart thumping. Her State was falling before her very eyes and she was helpless.

Jeanine slipped and fell as she tried to make her way to Diana, her only thought was to save her daughter, not her clan and then getting the crown. Glass exploded and fell around her, shards of broken buildings and stones fell around her, as she pulled up her silvery white to her knees and ran. The splintered glass dug and cut into her feet, her blood staining the stones. It stung but getting to her daughter was more important. Her usually tidy hair was all over the place and anyone seeing her would automatically think beggar, not leader or priestess. But then her State now was a battlefield, not a paradise, which she would rule anymore. Her daughter was her last thought before she succumbed to the darkness right outside a white car, inside which sat two girls, knees knocking and hair flying around.


End file.
